Pages

Unfortunately, people who like the idea of owning a fearsome predator as well as those with a misguided nature fetish often don’t understand what they’re getting into. In many cases, a person will think he has had experience with wolfdogs in the past — maybe he had or knew an animal who he thought was a hybrid but was, in fact, all dog — and decides to get a wolfdog puppy. “Only this time, he gets the real thing,” Collings says. “And by the time the pup is five or six months old, [she’s] eaten the couch or clawed [her] way through the drywall.”

Of course, not all wolfdogs behave the same way, and there’s probably more variety in behavior among wolfdogs than any other kind of dog. “You have to remember that a wolfdog is not a wolfdog is not a wolfdog,” says Brown. “There’s no such thing as ‘typical.’”

“A high-content animal is probably going to act a lot more ‘wolfie’ than a low-content animal,” adds Wilde. “With a high-content wolfdog, you might start out with the puppy in the house and then, as he hits adolescence, you’ll be building an enclosure outside. You’ll have to.” It’s for just these reasons that many experts, including Wilde, discourage people from breeding wolfdogs, or buying wolfdog pups from breeders.

“The average dog owner won’t deal with their Beagle, and can’t handle an ordinary dog’s behavior problems,” says Wilde, who rescued a wolf and two wolfdogs several years ago. She can personally attest to the challenges of keeping these beautiful canines. “I worked with them to the point that I could look between their paw pads and look at their teeth — and give them tummy rubs — but I never forgot what they really were.”

Editors’ Note: In our opinion, despite their undeniable beauty and appeal, deliberately breeding or purchasing wolfdogs as companion animals does a disservice to both Canis lupus and Canis lupus familiaris as well as to the individual animal. If you love wolves, honor their ancient connection with our domestic dogs by joining the effort to preserve their habitat and maintain their status as a federally protected species. HSUS (hsus.org) and the Defenders of Wildlife (defenders.org) are just two of many groups working on their behalf.

Pages:

Pages

Experts have determined that wolves and dogs share more than 99 percent of their DNA, but those few strands make a big difference. As a wild animal, a wolf must be selfsufficient, capable of finding (and killing) prey, fending off enemies and generally preserving its own life — essentially the opposite of what you want in an animal who’s sharing your home. Wolfdogs may display any or all of these behaviors to one degree or another, including:

• High-level curiosity. Wolves are constantly exploring their environment, says Frank Wendland, executive director of the WOLF Sanctuary (wolfsanctuary.net) in La Porte, Colo. In the wild, that means knowing every inch of a territory that can comprise from 50 to 1,000 square miles. In your house, that means knowing what’s inside everything, including the cabinets, appliances and furniture. “Wolfdogs have to investigate,” he says. “We have a TV on the wall of our office, and I’ve seen them go into the adjoining room to see where the image is coming from.” Quite often, this exploration is done with teeth and claws. “I’ve seen them shred barbecues, walls, sofas,” he says.

• A drive to roam. Hard-wired to guard their turf against other packs as well as intruders of other species, they’re also wide-ranging creatures, and in the wild have been known to cover up to 30 miles a day. A wolf’s genes tell her to hit the road (and get out of any enclosure she’s been put into) and defend her territory. Wolves also mark their territory with urine more frequently and copiously than dogs do.

• A propensity toward den-building and digging. They can destroy your lawn (and furniture) in the same exercise and can also dig several feet down in order to escape from an enclosure.

• A strong predatory instinct. A wolf looks at other animals (with the exception of other wolves) as dinner. Pet wolfdogs often make short work of cats and small dogs, and may also attack bigger animals. Unfortunately, that drive can also be directed at humans; children are especially vulnerable. “A small child is really just about the size of a sheep or a fawn — bite size,” Zawistowski says. “And that small stumbling animal triggers the predatory behavior.” In the wild, a wolf would never be close enough to a child to have that instinct triggered, he says. But wolfdogs are regularly kept in homes with kids, with occasionally tragic results. “Wolves tend to avoid people, as most wild animals do,” says Zawistowski. “They have the ‘fight or flight’ thing, and most of the time, they choose flight. But when they fight, they’re really, really good at it.”

Martha Schindler Connors writes about health, fitness and nutrition and is a former senior editor at Natural Health. In her free time, she volunteers with Pointer Rescue (pointerrescue.org). martha-connors.com